The guy smiled proudly and nodded. “Yeah, a boy.”
“Oh good, I know exactly what I’m going to make.” Reece beamed.
“Wilde, don’t be rude, say hello to Ro.”
His eyes landed on me and narrowed slightly before they shifted to Reece who found her way back to the spot beside me. He stepped into the kitchen and extended a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same.” I tipped my hat then leaned back, allowing Melvina to maneuver a massive slice of cake onto my plate.
“I changed the floater in the toilet up there, so if you get a last minute guest, you should be good to rent that room. The toilet’s not running anymore,” Wilde said to Melvina and I grinned, shaking my head.
“I thought you didn’t have any rooms.”
Wilde looked at Melvina and laughed before he addressed me. “I see she’s up to her same old shit. Got you too, huh?”
“My same old shit sent you a wife who’s carrying the baby that had that goofy ass smile on your face a few minutes ago. Don’t you go talking trash about my skills, Wilde.”
I had known from the minute she presented the opportunity for me to help at Reece’s ranch that Melvina was up to something. I didn’t have any plans on falling into that trap because Miller’s Pointe was just a holding place until my next stop, but apparently she knew better than I did.
“You’re just lucky, old lady. Don’t you go forcing people together with the expectations of them falling like I did.”
“Call me old again and you’re going to be falling alright. Right on the damn floor when I clock you.”
Wilde laughed and crossed the kitchen, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “I’m gonna leave that alone. Let me get going. I needto run by the store before I head home. Temperature’s dropping so I think that snow is getting close.”
“You be careful out there. I love you.” She wrapped her arms around him and he hugged her back.
“Love you too.”
Wilde stepped away and turned his attention to me. “Welcome to Miller’s Point.” He glanced at Reece before his eyes were back on me and a smug grin surfaced. “Seems like you’re gonna be here for a while, so if you need anything, I’m around.”
“’Preciate that,” I offered, not even bothering to dispute his claim about me hanging around.
Melvina delivered a slice of cake to Reece’s plate and sat across from us. “So how are things going out there?”
“Good, actually. We got the barn door fixed and made it to Phoxes to get my tree yesterday.”
“Mhm, that’s good but that’s not what I’m asking.”
“Well that’s all you’re getting,” Reece warned. I chuckled and she narrowed her eyes on me, so I decided to mind my business and try the cake that had my stomach growling. As soon as the first bite met my tongue, I knew I was in trouble.
“Shit, this is good.”
“Of course it is. It’s my special recipe.” Melvina smiled proudly while I forced the follow up forkful into my mouth.
“Tastes like a gingerbread cookie,” I mumbled, wiping my mouth.
“That’s exactly what it is. Well, gingerbread cake to be exact,” Reece confirmed, taking her first bite. “I’ve been in love with this cake since I was a kid.”
“I see why. It’s good as hell.”
“Thank you. Maybe you can get Reece to make you one.”
My gaze shifted to Reece who rolled her eyes and worked on finishing the slice on her plate.
We stayed for about another hour, sitting out on the glass enclosed porch at the back of the house. Melvina made sure to introduce me to all the guests between having me doing odd jobs like fixing a string of falling lights or bringing in wood from the shed.
She worked me however she could but I didn’t really mind because Melvina was a sweetheart. She was also nosy as hell, because every time she sent me away, she was grinning and whispering with Reece, which made me believe the manual labor was intentional.
